Puzzle eMindset

November 27, 2016 – The below post was created on April 3, 2010. Formatting broke when I migrated from a self-hosted WordPress site to a WordPress.com site circa August 2013. Fortunately, this PDF version survived the years.

ORIGINAL POST

How to solve a puzzle efficiently. 1.17.10

Team up with another to solve a puzzle faster than by myself

Choices

Visualize finished puzzle

Who already put together chunks of this puzzle?

Communicate to another: finished puzzle

What are the risks of working with another?

Clarify another is working on the same puzzle

Why am I motivated to solve the puzzle?

Work with another who already has pieces solved.

Why is another motivated to solve the puzzle?

Ask another questions to clarify their vision & understanding of the puzzle

Why would another want to work with me?

Completed:

Find your puzzle

How do I communicate finished vision? A: sketch and describe to another

What are the advantages of working with another? A: it’s faster with right partner

Why faster? A: leverage the pieces attached before working together

Putting Together Pieces

Put all the pieces on the table

Where can the smallest connection make the biggest impact?

Work piece by piece

Where might this fit?

Ask for pieces I need

Are there pieces that are not on the table?

Tell another where my pieces fit

This piece = part of the puzzle?

Ask another to suggest where a piece might fit

Clarify: “tell me more about that piece”

Clarify: how that piece connects to the others

Understand: Easy to get lost in the pieces, forget big pic.

Stop often. Remember the big picture.

Completed:

Define rules and meanings to avoid miscommunication. (X=5)

How do I incorporate another’s big piece? A: connect its edges to mine

How do I know if another has a missing piece? A: ask about the shape or design, describe/draw what the piece might look like

What if another’s big piece doesn’t fit? A: I need to get the pieces to connect it